I hope that this tribe is active, as it's been a long time since anyone posted.

I am a pharmacy technician at a Central California hospital. It was formerly a true "community" hospital but was purchased a few years ago by a corporation in the South. The place has gone downhill ever since. The cleanliness is lacking, administration has no respect for staff, especially those with decades of experience (read: they don't want to offer the financial compensation that comes with experience) and they are "penny-wise and pound-foolish". It is akin to working for the Mafia, where they nickel and dime, complaining about paying for a few minutes of overtime, etc, but suddenly all the perfectly good soap and paper towel dispensers are replaced by another brand. Is Uncle Carmine working for those companies? One of our former CEOs was interviewd on 60 Minutes with regard to patients being dumped on L.A.'s "Skid Row" (he is now working in that area). He said that the hospital is there to meet peoples' medical needs, not their housing needs. That is the mentality that now rules.

In spite of the poor management, I love the work and feel good about what I do--help people heal themselves. I have a great group of coworkers (for the most part) who are smart, fun and reliable. The schedule is great (7 on, 7 off) and so are the benefits. I've been in this field for almost 25 years and, inspite of getting a sociology degree, I went back into pharming.